Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow settled for a battling fifth place at today's Jerez MotoGP round, contending with braking issues in the opening laps and still feeling sore from his crashes yesterday.

The Isle of Man resident says he wanted a top-six result in Spain and managed to keep Alvaro Bautista behind him for fifth and not end up on the floor at the start of the race when a full fuel tank meant he was unable to stop properly.

"I felt sore this morning when I got up and particularly in morning warm-up with loads of sharp pains in my back but that's the effect of bashing the kidney and muscles in my back. As far as the race is concerned, I don't think it hindered my performance. For sure, I wasn't completely on the ball. It wasn't a lack of confidence but I was happy to finish the race and not be on the floor," said Crutchlow, speaking at Jerez.

"If I have to settle for fifth, then I have to settle for fifth. I made sure I got fifth, I made sure I was top satellite by three seconds again and we finished quite strongly. Like yesterday, I lost the front so many times in the first laps I was nearly on the floor.

"I couldn't stop when we had a full fuel tank and I didn't have much front grip. (The factory bike) Fuel tank is further back so they are able to stop at the beginning of the race. With these conditions I struggled and after that there was nothing I could do."